


A Hundred Words for Trampled Flowers

by Noirwind



Series: Psychosis [2]
Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! VRAINS
Genre: Drabbles, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-31
Updated: 2018-11-03
Packaged: 2019-07-25 13:00:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 848
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16198055
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Noirwind/pseuds/Noirwind
Summary: All flowers die, trampled by time. Some, by the hands of another, and all one can do is pick up the petals.





	1. Wisteria I

At some point in his life he began hearing things, things that weren't just the nasty rumours circulating like wildfire. But more than that, more than the murmurs of the other classmates around him and the whispers of the adults behind his back, was the unshakable feeling that something was wrong. That there was evil lurking almost everywhere, in the corridor beyond the classroom, in the shadows underneath his desk.

The crows flying overhead on his way to school cast a mockery of hands upon his shoulders, and the laughter of normal children was that of yet-to-be unfolded plots to destroy what remaining sanity that he had, just to see how he would react. Paranoia, it was called. Looming insanity, he felt, was more apt.

Yuusaku shook his mind free of another vision - of data and sewage and an electronic world - tossing his attention back to classroom dronings.

One. There would be time to worry about daggers in the dark later.

Two. This time was no less surreal than the previous, and thus there was nothing particularly unusual.

And three. The teacher was glaring at him.


	2. Moonflower I

《 》 stirs in the wake of the attack, blinking his remaining eye.

Data corruption: 92%.

System transfer completed. Memory folders 100% restored. All data encrypted and backed up into system drive.

He sighs - as much as he can in this handicapped form - in relief at his success.

The Cyberse World has been sealed away. The Knights of Hanoi and SOL Technologies both will be after him. There isn't a place left where he can hide.

Except, he realizes much, _much_ later whilst taking refuge within the sewers of the VRAINS, except there is. There is one last place where he can hide. A place that is offline and separated from the web.

With equal parts of hope and desperation he retrieves from the most heavily encrypted section of his core programming the one piece of information kept secret from everyone else, even the other five. The name of a child with the hair colour of blooming wisteria.

Something deep inside him speaks. 

 _Find him._ It presses.

 _Contact him._ It insists.  _You know how to locate him._

He receives a flash of insight. Of a hooded figure, stalking in the shadows of the world, watching with verdant eyes.

He doesn't know who or what this something is, but knows it well enough to question its intention.

_But you don't have a choice do you? He's all that you have left._

He sets off.


	3. Wisteria and Moonflower I

The world is pitch black.

There is a duel disk on his arm, card deck already snugly in the slot, and there is a heavy, solid weight on the bridge of his nose.

Ah. This nightmare again.

「... _ku_.. _._ 」

He knows what will happen.

He knows every card in his dream deck, every combo that can be made. He knows every card his opponent holds and every move his opponent will make.

And he knows that he will still lose, despite all that.

「 _...saku!_ 」

He duels anyway, because it is the only way out of the dream. Prepares himself for the inevitable snap of electricity to shatter his mind.

He loses, of course. Lightning courses down every muscle and bone, destroys his spirit. The ground gives way, and he plummets-

「 _Yuusaku!_ 」

Something coils around his wrist, yanking him upwards. Yuusaku catches a glimpse of violet markings before he jerks awake in the darkness, with a sharp intake of breath to the luminosity of a bright orange sun.

"...Ai?"

It blinks, and then it is wrapped around him, that monstrous visage squashing itself to his face.

"Ai, what-"

「 _Ah, thank goodness. Are you ok?_ 」The AI is trembling slightly.「 _You were losing a duel and-_ 」

"How did you know?"

Ai freezes. Yuusaku waits. The Ignis retracts its form, reverting to that small, imp-like figure. It seems to be at a loss for words.

「 _I-I mean, you were tossing and turning in your sleep and you were scared and falling and- ah, that's not-_ 」

He sighs, closing his eyes.

"Nevermind. It doesn't matter."

He can feel the AI's guilt (guilt?) hovering at the edges of his consciousness. It has become something of a constant in his life, this bizarre awareness, ever since capturing the Ignis. Perhaps, he recalls the insistent, frantic activation of his Link Sense during Hanoi's attack on Link VRAINS, even before that.

The night falls quiet. And Yuusaku finds himself unable to sleep, not with Ai being so incredibly noisy.

"Hey, stop worrying and go back to sleep."

「 _Wha- I'm not worrying! And AIs don't sleep!_ 」

"Should I help you then?" He wakes up to glare at it. "Permanently?"

The Ignis slinks stiffly back into the duel disk. 「 _No, that's alright. Please don't trouble yourself._ 」

Huffing to himself, Yuusaku retreats into the comfort of his blanket.

"...thank you."

There is a flutter in his heart, a tiny bit of barely repressed elation.

「 _What did you just say?_ 」

He rolls his eyes and pretends to sleep.

「 _Hey, hey, what did you just say? Yuusaku~_ 」

"Be quiet."

「 _Ehhhh?_ 」

Seriously, what a troublesome AI.


End file.
